Our cars: Honda CR-V - February

At the moment, the commute to Teddington from the countryside is more often than not in the dark. During these daily drives, I have noticed that the Honda's headlights are particularly good.

The EX comes with bi-xenon headlights as standard. The headlights are very bright even when dipped and the light fades towards the end of the beam rather than coming to an abrupt end.

When the lights are on high beam a sensor detects oncoming traffic and dips the lights automatically. The Honda's system is the fastest that I have used and is very easy to override should the need arise – a quick pull of the indicator stalk and the system deactivates. This helps to stop blinding oncoming drivers for any longer than necessary.

The Honda also features a cornering light function. When the indicator is switched on or the steering wheel is turned more than 90 degrees, the corresponding front foglight turns on and lights up the side road you're turning towards or the junction you're entering.

These features make the CR-V particularly relaxing to drive at night.

Neil.Williams@whatcar.com

Week ending February 8 Mileage 7400Driven this week 400 miles

The CR-V was abandoned for a couple of nights this week while I made the trek back home in test cars that I was photographing.

The Honda is one of those cars that I’m always happy to climb back into (comfy seats especially so) no matter what I’ve been driving. The touch-screen and media interface (sat-nav and stereo to you and me) are slightly less welcome.

On a few occasions now I have managed to dial the wrong person, much to my, and their surprise, due to the contact icons being quite closely placed to one another.

It also feels pretty dated (2D navigation only) even though this is the more expensive DVD-based navigation option, the cheaper of the two systems has a 3D perspective mode and much sophisticated graphics.